Peter Sagan ready to step into 'different world' of mountain biking as Paris 2024 Olympics dream looms

Peter Sagan has opened up about his mountain bike aspirations as he prepares to step into a «different world» at the end of an incredible career. The Slovakian will step away from WorldTour road racing at the end of the season before attempting to sign off from professional riding on the mountain bike at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Ad Sagan, a former junior world and European champion in the mountain bike, competed in the discipline at the Rio 2016 Olympics, finishing 35th.

Mountain BikeHighlights: Courdurier beats Charre at UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup20 HOURS AGO Speaking at Warner Bros. Discovery's start of season cycling launch event to hype the new UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Sagan looked ahead to an action-packed summer as he prepares to say farewell to the Tour de France and secure a mountain bike spot for Slovakia at the 2024 Games. “I really wanted to turn back to mountain bike because it's a different world,” said Sagan.

“It's a very nice atmosphere… when you're going for mountain bike races and you're in a mountain bike village with downhill riders, with motocross country riders, with another group of people. It’s very beautiful. It’s a totally different atmosphere than professional cycling on the road.

“That is why this idea started to turn back to mountain biking. You need to set some goals. For the Olympic Games, it’s a very difficult thing, but because Slovakia has no [qualified] rider, I first have to qualify and maybe I can then go for the Games in Paris.